Chute actuating mechanism for concrete mixers



Aug. l2,A 1947. o. A. FLEISCHMANN CHUTE ACTUATING' MECHANISM FOR CONCRETE MIXERS www Patented Aug. 12, 1947 onn'rE-Aefruaiime Foa ooNcaETE MixEaS.

George Ar. Fleischmann, Milwaukee,- Wis.,Y assignor to Chain Belt Company, Milwaukee, Wis'., a corpora-tion of Wisconsin Qri-ginal* application; March` 1 11944, Serial- No. 524,595., Divided, and this application. April 9,v 19.45,. ScrallNo. 5.8.7399

f 1 Cla-inn the present application is a division of my prior (zo-pending application Serial No, 524,595 led March 1, 194:41,` entitled Concrete mixer.

As. set forth in said; parent application, the mixer therein disclosed is particularly intended for air transport' and in View; of space limitations imposed by present daycargo planes it is highlyr desirable that so far as is compatible Withits rated; size and capacity, the machine be so constructed and arranged as to take upv a minimum of space Within the plane fuselage. The mixer is Equipped with a discharge chute which is swingable froman out ornon-discharging position to an "nt or discharging position, and back again. The out position is the normalV positionof the chute, and* as is customary in this class oi machina the mechanism forV actuating the chute includes means for retaining the chute in this- "out." or non-discharge position except when it is intentionally moved therefrom by the operator.

When.` in the non-discharge position however, the chute projects materially farther from the rear of the machine. than it does when in its clischargi'ng position, and therefore in order to meet theI above mentioned Space limitations, it isdesirabl'e that the chute be, readily movable to and retainable in its discharge position for loading and transport by plane.

The present invention relates, more specipil'ly to mechanism whereby the discharge chute may be easily moved to. and eiectively locked in its discharging position whereby to conserve space during transport;v and it further includes the Drovision of'` means whereby the chute operating lever or handle may be moved to and retained 1.11 a more out-o-the-Way position, Where it is less likely to be engaged and/0r damaged by other cargo.

One; form of construction embodying the principies, of, the inventionA is illustrated in the ac,u companyng drawings iorming a part.- Qf this specicaton,.in which;

Figure l is a rear elevational View 0f a concrete mixer of the; type disclosed said paren-t appli.- cation Serial No. 524,595, with numerous conventional elements thereof being omitted however, as being unnecessary to an understanding of the present invention;

Fig, 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view i of the rear end of the mixer, as seen from the right of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational View looking in the same direction as Fig. 2, partly in section and somewhat dagrarrb 2 matic, andV illustrating more in detail the meehanism ofthe present invention for oygperatingl and locking the discharge chute, the parts being shown in the. positions they occupy during-V the: mixing of a batch of, concrete;

Fig). 4 is a view similar-tp Fig- 3, but illustrating the` positions oi the parts when the chute has beenmoved into the drum to discharge the mixed batch;

Fig. 5' is an elevational view1 oi the-chute oper-+- ating and; locking mechanism, as seen from the left of Fig. 3;

Eig. 6 is a cross sectionalviewon theplane in` dicated' by the line Q-Sj of' Fig'. 5, looking in the direction of' the arrows; and- Fig,. '7 is' a partial horizontal' sectional vie-wonapproximate'ly the. planel indicated by' the line L-.l of L looking down.

The mixer illustrated in Figs. 1 andx 2 is of' the semiftrailer type. and comprises a, chassis. .Minormally supported by Wheels 2|-` mounted; upon an axle 2V., A pair of transversely spaced frame' membersy 22, or substantially inverted lJ--shape extend upwardly from the saidv chassis; and; a mixing drumzt is rotatably mountedA Within the framework provided by said frame men'rbers,y byv means of supporting rollers 2'4- and- 25'; The mixing drum is driven by means of a chain and sprocketv drive, 26 from a countershaft 2-1, whichV in, turn iis drivers, through appropriate transmission gearingVby an internal combustion engine, not here shown.. The rear end Wall of the drum 23, is. provided with the usual discharge opening 28, and a discharge chute 3E! is mounted adjacent thereto, being carried' by a shaft 3l` journall-ed inbearings, 32 carried by the upright frame members 22,A whereby the said chute may be swung trom an operative or discharging position shown in` full lines in I "igs,` l and to an inoperative orV nondischalg Position, indicated in dotted lines in the latter figure-4 It, will be readily apparent from Fig. 2 that as above. indicated, when in its non-discharge or dotted' line. position, the chute extends` considerably arther to the rear of the machine than it does. when in theA discharge', or full line, position. Obviously thereforevaluable cargo space may be saved and the chute better protected Iagainst damage, if the machine be arranged for transport With the chute positioned and locked in its full line or discharging position; and the chute operating mechanism of the present invention provides a simple and eiiective means whereby this may be accomplished.

The said chute operating mechanism comprises an arm 35 rigidly mounted on the chute-carrying shaft 3|, to which arm is pivotally connected as at 36 one end of a link 31, the other end of which is .pivotally connected as at 38 to a crank arm 39 rigidly carried by a short rock-shaft 40 journalled in a bearing 4| mounted upon one of the frame members 22. The bearing 4| is provided with a pair of rigid angularly spaced lugs or projections 42 and 43, the latter of which has an adjustable stop screw 44 threaded through it. The shaft 40 projects outwardly beyond the bearing 4| and its projecting end rigidly carries a hub 45 having a rigid quadrant arm 46 and a pair of angularly spaced ears 41 and 48, the latter of which has an adjustable stop screw 49 threaded through it. As is best shown in Figs. 5 and 7, the said ears 41 and 48 project beyond the inner end of the hub 45, for circumferential alinement with the lugs or projections 42 and -43 of the bearing 4|. An operating lever 50 is pivotally connected to the actuating arm 46 by a bolt 5|, and said lever is provided with a housing 52 in which is slidably mounted a spring-pressed plunger 53, the end portion of which is adapted to be alternatively engaged in the holes 54 and 55 formed in the quadrant arm 46,

When the chute is in its discharging position (shown in full lines in Figs. 2 and 4) the several elements of the operating mechanism which have just been described, occupy the relative positions shown in Figs. 4 and 7, with the end of the plunger 53 in the hole 54 of the arm 46. If now the operator swings the lever -50 in a clockwise direction through an angle of approximately |98, from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 3, the quadrant arm 46 will rotate the shaft 40 and the arm 39 carried thereby will lift the link 31, which motion will be transmitted through arm 35 to the chute-supporting shaft 3|, whereby the chute will be swung to its out or dotted line position of Fig. 2. In the course of this movement the pivot 38 between the arm 39 and the link 31 will be swung beyond the deadcenter line 56 between the pivot 36 and shaft 48, Y

as indicated in Fig. 3, and thus the normal tendency of the 'weight of the chute 30 to rotate the shaft 3| in a counterclockwise direction will tend to continue rotation of shaft 40 in a clockwise direction. However, as the parts reach the Fig. 3 positions the stop screw 49 engages with the xed lug or projection 42 of the bearing 4| (see Fig. 6) thereby preventing further rotation of the shaft 40 in such direction. A toggle lock is thus secured which is effective to retain the chute in its elevated nondischarging position, from which it may be released however, by merely swinging the lever 50 upwardly and back to the position of Fig. 4. Motion of the parts in this direction is limited by engagement of the ear 41 with the stop screw 44 carried by the bearing lug 43, as illustrated in Fig. 4. At this time the bottom of the chute 30 also engages a portion 51 of a bracket arm 58 rigidly carried by the chassis 23. These engagements occur only after the pivot 38 has moved slightly past the dead-center line 56 (Fig. 4) and therefore a toggle locking action is also secured to hold thek chute in discharge DOsition.

As above indicated, in its discharge position the chute does not extend as far beyond the rear of the machine as it does when in its non-discharge position, and therefore the former position is the preferable one for loading and/or stowage, particularly in cargo planes. However, as will be clear from Fig. 4, in the discharge position of the chute the operating lever 50 projects rearwardly, approximately as far as does the chute in its non-discharge position, thereby offsetting the advantages accruing from locking the chute in discharge position for loading and transport. To avoid this objection, with the parts in the full line positions of Fig. 4, the plunger 53 may be withdrawn from the hole 54 of the quadrant arm 46 and the lever swung upon its pivot 5| until the plunger end engages in the hole 55 of the arm 46, when the parts will have assumed the positions shown in broken lines in said Fig. 4, and in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. In this condition the lever 50 parallels and is relatively closely adjacent the frame member 22, and lies wholly within the space limits dened by the other elements of the machine.

While one form of the invention has been illustrated and described, it will be obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of construction as well as the precise arrangements of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention, and therefore it is not wished to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claim.

What is claimed is:

In a concrete mixer having a mixing chamber, a material-transfer chute mounted for movement between an operative and an inoperative position in the former of which a major portion of the chute is within the chamber, and toggle-locking linkage for moving the chute between and retaining it in said positions; a quadrant arm for ac tuating said linkage; an operating lever pivotally carried by said arm for angular movement relative thereto without moving the chute; and latch means for temporarily interconnecting the lever and arm in alternative angular relationships, in the normal one of which the lever projects longin tudinally of the machine beyond the extremity of the external yportion of the chute when the latter is in its operative position, while in the other of said relationships the lever will not project beyond said chute extremity.

GEORGE A. FLEISCHMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 968,660 Hickok et al. Aug. 30, 1910 1,043,151 Seamans Nov. 5, 1912 1,067,180 Levalley July 8, 1913 1,072,318 Davis Sept. 2, 1913 1,126,487 Koehring Jan. 26, 1915 1,516,773 Lancaster Nov. 25, 1924 

